Core
by sunwindandwaves
Summary: Reno killed for a living, the same way other people got by flipping burgers at fastfood joints or by screwing with peoples’ money. He was a Turk, and damn good at what he did.


Core

Another Disclaimer: Gosh, I've written a lot of these. And I still don't own anything cool like Midgar or Reno or the Turks. Heck, I don't even own the pair of sunglasses Rude is wearing in this fic. I do own the psycho with the crazy name, and the little girl who's a lot like Yuffie but isn't.

Core

Reno killed for a living, the same way other people got by flipping burgers at fastfood joints or by screwing with peoples' money. He was a Turk, and damn good at what he did.

He was sitting in a sleazy bar in the center of Edge, tossing back drink after drink with his partner, Rude. A brunette clung to his arm, giggling occasionally as the two men talked.

"Tseng and 'Lena come back from that last mission yet?" Reno asked lazily, putting his arm around the brunette's shoulders. She laughed and wound her fingers into his long red ponytail.

Rude shrugged, tilting his head back and taking a swing from his bottle. The lights were dim in the little bar, but Rude, as always, had his shades pulled down over his eyes.

Suddenly Reno's cell phone buzzed from his pocket. "Damn!" he swore, looking at the caller ID. "Hey, boss." He covered the bottom of the phone with his hand. "It's Rufus," he mouthed at Rude.

Under his sunglasses, Rude rolled his eyes. He had already figured as much.

"Yeah, no, boss, we're not busy," Reno said. The brunette frowned up at him, but he didn't notice. "Now? Seriously? We _never_ have a day off, yo!" Reno was silent for a moment, the scowled. "Yes, I like the pay. Fine, we'll be there, five minutes, max." He hung up.

Rude stood up, brushing off the sleeves of his suit jacket. "Work?" he asked as Reno disentangled himself from the girl.

"What else, yo?" he answered, standing up. The brunette pouted. "Sorry, babe. Gotta run." He and Rude began walking towards the door.

"Will you call me?" she asked.

Reno turned back and smiled at her. "'Course, yo."

As the Turks got into their car, Rude said, "You aren't going to call her, are you?" He hit the gas and they sped smoothly down the street. Shinra gave their employees only the finest of wheels.

"No way, yo."

Rude turned and looked at him, and Reno imagined he saw a flicker of disappointment cross his face. "Aw, c'mon Rude. Don't gimme that!"

Rude turned his eyes back to the road. "One day you're going to meet a girl you'll want to call, but she won't pick up for you."

They pulled up in front of the Shinra building and got out of the car. Reno snorted. "That ain't gonna happen, yo."

The climbed the front steps of the metal skyscraper, and Rude flipped open a keypad on the door, entering a series of numbers and pressing his thumb against a small pad. Reno mimicked him. A small beep sounded. "Rude."

"Reno." The door slid open, and they crossed the red-carpeted lobby to the elevator. "And not only is that not gonna happen, I don't need you to scold me, yo! You're, what, three years older than me? And you've had _how_ many girls, compared to me?" Reno continued, putting his hands in his pockets and slouching against he wall of the elevator. Rude didn't reply. "And furthermore, I'm Reno of the friggin' Turks!" he said as they headed down the hallway towards Rufus Shinra's office. "I do what I want to, yo!"

Rude almost smiled, knocking on the office door. He'd hit a nerve with that comment.

"Come in," their boss's voice called.

Reno swaggered into the opulent office and draped himself over a chair. "Got work for us?" Rude followed him more calmly.

"Yes, I do, Reno. Lately, there has been a string of hostages taken and killed in Midgar, all by one man," Rufus said detachedly.

"And this involves me…how?" Reno asked.

"He's kidnapping the sons and daughters of some of our biggest stockholders."

The Shinra Electric Power Company was back on the rise, moving past its…history. They were still raking in billions by the day, but the population was wary of letting them get too much power. But the seeds of doubt were vague and unfounded, and most of all, easily dealt with by the Turks.

Reno had joined them seven years ago—now he was 23, and one of Shinra's best operatives.

"And we should deal with this? It ain't our problem," he drawled, putting his feet up on Rufus's desk.

"Feet down, please, Reno. And contrary to your prior statement, it is indeed Shinra's problem. This man is spreading fear of association with us," the blond man explained. "He's killed five, so far, between the ages of four and eighteen."

Reno sighed. "Fine. Where's the poor bastard?"

Rufus smiled. Reno could never turn down a job. "We've already tracked him down. All you have to do is find him…and silence him." He pushed a sheet of paper with a name and address on it towards Reno.

He snatched it and read it over, his face splitting into a feral grin. "Can do, boss. We'll be done by midnight tonight." He jumped up. "Ready, Rude?"

"Reno, Rude. There's one more thing you need to do. He's currently holding a young daughter of the Nagoya family hostage. You'll need to rescue her too. Her name is Mira."

Reno waved a hand carelessly as he and Rude left. "Assassinations, rescues, saving the world, it's all the same, yo!"

Twenty minutes later, the Turks were pulling up outside the building Rufus had specified. It was a surprisingly well kept apartment complex in a well-off area of town.

"Kendred Lennoth," Rude read off the paper. "No wonder he went crazy, name like that."

Reno was already halfway through the door, Rude hurried to catch up. "Basement Level 2," Reno said, crossing the lobby.

"Um, excuse me, sirs," a meek receptionist started. Rude turned to him and glared, lifting his glasses for a second.

"Shinra business," he said, flashing a totally fake ID. "Heard you were having power problems."

"Go right ahead sirs," he stammered quickly.

Reno and Rude took the stairs, the faster to reach their target. Reno pulled his Electro-Mag Rod from a belt loop and pressed the button, raising the charge to stun, but not to kill. Not yet.

Basement Level 2 had a terrible security system, Reno thought as Rude kicked down the door without so much as an alarm going off. It was a miracle that no one had noticed the fact that a lunatic was living down there.

Reno and Rude stormed onto the floor, the entirety of which was divided up by flimsy, cubicle-like walls, all a blank glaring white. It was silent. "Mr. Lennoth, you've got guests," Rude called, the words cordial enough but with a menacing shade just behind them that made chills run down even Reno's spine. He had to hand it to him, Reno thought. That Rude could really put on a show.

A low tapping noise came from the back of the warren. A wiry man with mousy hair and red clothes came hurrying up to them. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize anyone had entered," he said, his voice smooth and gracious. He scanned them head to foot, and a light went on behind his eyes. "Ah. Shinra, I see. Turks, no less."

Reno and Rude exchanged glances, both tense and wary. Why wasn't he scared of them?

"Please, join me for tea," he offered, and led them into the labyrinth.

He wasn't scared 'cause he was a friggin' _loony_, Reno decided, looking at the blank white walls, floor and ceiling. Not only was he loony, he really needed some decorating help. Reno _hated_ white.

He and Rude followed the man, mildly bemused. Generally, when the Turks came to call, whether you were innocent or not, you showed some kind of reaction. They were playing along with him, just to see what he would do.

Kendred (poor man, Reno thought again) led them into an open space enclosed by the thin walls. "Uh…" Reno said. There was nothing even remotely tea related there.

Maybe they hadn't given him enough credit.

Maybe there was a method to his madness.

Maybe it was a—too late, Reno heard a click and felt the cold barrel of a gun against his temple. Motherfrigginhell! He and Rude had fallen for the stupidest damn trick!

"Your company poisoned the world!" Kendred hissed. Reno turned slowly and saw a wild light burning in his eyes. In his other hand, Kendred was holding another gun, this one pressed firmly against Rude's head. Crap. "AVALANCHE may have made peace with you, but I won't forgive those who steal from the Lifestream!"

Crazy. Totally friggin' crazy. Reno was used to lunatics, in fact, he sometimes suspected himself of being one, but this guy went _way_ beyond that. "Okay, buddy, why don't you put that thing down, and the three of us can talk civilized?" Reno suggested carefully, his blood frozen in his veins. This wasn't the first time he'd had a gun to his head, nor did he think it would be the last, but it was scary as hell every time.

"And I would do that why? So you and Baldy here can kill me?" he asked angrily. At times like this in his job, Reno really wished he had listened to his mother more when he was younger. Right now, he was also wishing he had stayed at the bar with the nice brunette that afternoon. He sighed.

"You know, I'm really starting to get fed up with you." Adrenaline started pumping through his veins and he almost grinned. It was time to show this fruit what happened when you messed with the Turks. He met Rude's eye and blinked once. Like lightening, they dropped to the floor, each grabbing on of the man's legs. They pulled, and Kendred went down hard, both guns going off. Bits of plaster rained down from the ceiling where the bullets had struck. Reno whipped out his EMR and set it to maximum power, pressing it against Kendred's head. Rude quickly removed the man's weapons.

"Okay, yo, we know you have a kid here. Where is she?" Reno asked, adrenaline already subsiding.

"She's a little young for you," Kendred leered. Reno glared at him and pressed the EMR harder against his head.

"You ain't in a position to be makin' jokes, yo. I gotta job to do, and I'm gonna do it. Now. Where. Is. The. Girl?" He punctuated each word with a little jolt from the EMR. God, he hated cracks like that. He was a _ladies' man_, not a friggin' _pedophile_. There was a difference.

"You're going to kill me anyway, aren't you?" Kendred asked bitterly.

"Yeah. But I could make it long and painful, or quick and clean. Your choice, yo."

Before Kendred had a chance to answer, all three men heard a muffled thump from the other side of one partition.

"Hiiiiiya!" came a young girl's voice, and the light wall came crashing down. Rude jumped back, the wall just missing him. A girl of about thirteen years stood proudly, ropes hanging loosely around her and bleeding from hundreds of deeps cuts on her body.

Rude looked up. "Miss, would you happen to be Mira Nagoya?" he asked.

"Yeah!" she said. "I got loose by myself!" Reno glanced at her with one eye. Short, boyish black hair, big green eyes; probably some Wutai blood in her, he would guess. Overall, very much like that thieving punk Yuffie Kisaragi back when Reno had first met her.

"You might wanna look away, kid," he told her, before returning his full attention to Kendred. "You didn't help me, but today's your lucky day. I'm in a good mood." He notched up the power on his EMR. "In your next life, think twice about torturing little girls," he told him, his finger hovering over the button that would end this man's pathetic existence. He deserved it, and more, but still Reno hesitated, looking at Kendred's scrunched up face. No matter how many times his job called on him to do it, the actual taking of life had always made him pause.

Late some nights, when he was totally wasted (the only time he ever thought about this particular facet of being a Turk) he thought his hesitation was the only thing that kept him human.

He hadn't left a job incomplete yet, though. Reno pressed the button, and in less than a second, Kendred Lennoth was dead.

Reno hardly paid attention to Kendred's body dissolving into the Lifestream. He'd seen it too many times before, happening to people he liked considerably better, for it to be a spectacle now.

Rude had taken several small plastic bags out of his jacket pocket and was proceeding to collect physical evidence he'd found around the basement--bits of rope the little girl's bindings, a collection of knives with blood still on them.

"I'll fix up the kid, yo," Reno told Rude, who nodded and continued.

"Hey," he said to the girl. She was crouched on the ground, her arms around her knees and her eyes tightly closed. "It's done, yo. You can go home now."

Mira uncurled and opened her eyes. "I didn't want to see him die," she said.

Reno was bewildered. "Why? He did that to you, didn't he?" He gestured to her multiple cuts. Upon closer inspection, the cuts were arranged into geometric patterns, up and down her arms. Sick bastard. Reno was glad he'd killed him. "Speaking of which." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a roll of bandages and a low-grade potion. "Let's get them fixed, yo. I might get a pay-dock if you show up at home lookin' like this."

"I know he did that. But he thought he was helping the planet," she said, apparently ignoring the majority of what Reno had said. He dumped the potion over her arms, and the cuts glittered green for a moment before scabbing over. He wrapped her arms entirely in bandages, shaking his head.

"No, he was a sadist who used that as his excuse to kill. At least I'm more honest with myself," he muttered. "You're done, yo. Wanna ride back home?"

Mira bounced up. "Yes please, sir!" She saluted him cheerfully, reminding Reno again of a younger Yuffie. He surreptitiously checked to see if he still had his wallet. He did—she must not have been a full grown mini-Yuffie yet. Reno was willing to bet that by next year, she'd be nicking materia with the best of them.

"Yo, Rude! We're outta here!" Reno called, and Rude emerged from the back carrying several more small bags.

All three climbed the stairs quickly, anxious to be gone. Reno tipped an imaginary hat at the frightened receptionist on the way out. Once in the car, Reno checked his watch—9:05 PM. He'd told Rufus they'd be done before midnight, and they were. Easy.

"Sector 1," Mira was telling Rude form the backseat, all cheer and charm. Reno wondered how she could act so casual after what she had been through.

"Hey, punk. D'you by any chance know a Yuffie?" he asked her.

"Yuffie!" she exclaimed happily. "She's my second cousin!"

Reno and Rude exchanged a look. "Called it, yo," Reno muttered to him.

"How old do you have to be to join the Turks?" she asked suddenly, taking Reno aback.

"I dunno, yo. It depends. Why?"

"I wanna be one too! I wanna save people and stuff!" Mira said happily. Reno gaped as they pulled up outside the huge manor the girl had directed them to. How anyone, even someone as young and naïve as Mira could think that the Turks' job was to _save people_ he had no idea. She leapt out and skipped up the steps of her house. "You'll be hearing more from me, Mr. Reno and Mr. Rude!"

The two Turks watched the door shut on her in shock. "How'd she know our names?" Rude asked eventually.

Reno checked his pocket. His ID was gone. He looked at Rude. "Yours too, yo?" he asked. Rude nodded. Reno sighed and put his head in his hands. "There's gonna be hell to pay with the boss for this one. We let some runt nick our friggin' IDs!"

"If she's really related to that ninja, there's no shame in it," Rude said calmly.

Reno sighed again. "Drop me off at the Seventh Heaven, Rude," he said. "I need a drink."

"It's closed, you know," Rude said, turning the car around anyway.

"I know, yo. But I bet Tifa'll let me in." Rude dropped him off in front of Tifa's bar. From the sidewalk, Reno could see a slender blond girl, apparently alone. He grinned. His night was definitely looking up. He pushed open the door and entered.

"I'm sorry, but we've just closed," the girl said.

"Aw, not just one last drink?"

**A/N. So. A typical Turks job. I was really just having fun showing Reno's multiple personalities, and the original characters I picked, I picked to try and highlight that. Reviews are cookies for the soul!**


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